


Eight Minutes

by liqhters



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: ??????, Angst, Angst and Romance, BUT SEOKHOON, Boys In Love, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Sad, gyuhao (mentioned), i projected on this fic soz, i still dont know how to tag, oh boy, so much sad im so sorry, soonwoo (mentioned), sunshine seokmin, too much use of sun references
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-21
Updated: 2018-02-21
Packaged: 2019-03-22 04:49:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13756668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liqhters/pseuds/liqhters
Summary: they say that the light from the sun takes eight minutes to reach the earth. and if the sun ever burns out, we wouldn't know about it for eight minutes, we wouldn't know about our last eight minutes of warmth, light and happiness until we're swallowed by the darkness.jihoon didn't know his eight minutes had started counting down as soon as he shut the door to his apartment.





	Eight Minutes

**Author's Note:**

> HELLO I LOVE SEOKHOON SO MUCH IM SO SORRY FOR THIS I HOPE YOU ENJOY THO!!! LOVE U~ HAVE A GREAT DAY!  
>   
> — with love, Grace xoxo

jihoon never saw him coming.

seokmin was made of sunlight and bright smiles and jihoon had to blink and keep his eyes closed for a second when soonyoung drags him in the music club room excitedly talking about how he found jihoon's next main vocal.

"JIHOON!"

"i don't like you. go away." jihoon says numbly but soonyoung is throwing himself at him and he can't stop staring at the boy following soonyoung. "come on, don't be like that! i found you a new member!"  
jihoon watches carefully as the new boy steps up and smiles at him, bright and wide. "i'm seokmin! nice to meet you hyung-nim." jihoon opens his mouth and blinks, still slow processing about how soonyoung could've gotten the sun inside this room. or maybe the windows were just open too wide.

"can you sing?" another dumb question escapes out of jihoon's mouth and soonyoung is laughing at him saying he wouldn't bother jihoon if seokmin can't.

"of course jihoon!! my man's got 'em lungs in him. you'll be blown away!" and then soonyoung is pulling seokmin closer and jihoon feels faint. "alright. let's see what you can do." he says, hoping it'd stop him from immediately just accepting seokmin. he turns to the piano and positions his fingers, taking a deep breath.

"you know pinwheel?"

seokmin nods and soonyoung moves away from him to sit down at the side of the room by the guitars. jihoon starts playing and seokmin sings with the melody. jihoon doesn't hear the piano, already too familiar with the sounds each key holds. seokmin's voice does blow him away, though. he whips his head to where soonyoung is, eyes wide. and soonyoung's wearing that smug expression he always wants to slap off.

"hyung? why'd you stop?" seokmin asks, breaking the train of thought jihoon has.

and jihoon looks down at his fingers which are frozen in position.

"um nothing. you're in." jihoon sees soonyoung wiggling his eyebrows at him. he ignores the desire to slap him and instead turns to seokmin to offer him a handshake but when he finally faces the younger, he was tackled in a hug that almost throws him off the seat. seokmin is warm though, and jihoon has half a mind think that maybe he should thank soonyoung instead of slap him.

then, soonyoung let's out a loud 'whooo!!' and pats - smacks his back with a loud thump and seokmin is letting go of him while soonyoung says, "what did i tell you ji?".  
jihoon definitely wants to punch kwon soonyoung.

 

**+**

 

jihoon introduces seokmin to the rest of the team the day after, and was not surprised when the new addition to their team got along well with the others, especially seungkwan. jihoon feels he's looking at two suns in the music room and jeonghan is elated to have to be taking care of another junior. seokmin fit right in and jihoon cant help but feel fond.

his team feels complete.

they practice after school hours and soon enough seokmin is eating with their group at lunch along with soonyoung and their other friends. there's thirteen of them in total and it's crowded and suffocating but seungcheol's holding jeonghan's hair back so it wouldn't touch the food and mingyu and minghao are bantering but mingyu's holding minghao's hands tightly and jisoo's trying to calm everyone down and eat in peace. anyone would see them as a crowd of messy rowdy boys but jihoon, in all his struggle in showing emotions, sees a family he wouldn't trade for the world.

"jihoonieee~" maybe except soonyoung.

"won't you give me your chocolate pudding? you owe for bringing you seokmin here!" soonyoung says, putting his arm around jihoon's shoulders and pulling in seokmin too, as he was sitting in between them. jihoon looks at soonyoung with annoyance and sighs.

 

he'd trade soonyoung to satan for one cornchip.

 

 

**+**

 

 

  
"hyung?"

jihoon looks up from his music sheets and sees seokmin coming towards him holding a styrofoam cup. "seokmin-ah, what's up?" seokmin rubs the back of his head and smiles at him, his eyes crinkling up into crescent moons and hands jihoon the styrofoam cup. jihoon stares at the brown coffee, steam rising up from the hot liquid.

  
"i thought i'd bring you coffee since you haven't come out for snacks and jeonghan hyung said you won't remember to eat until you finish the song you're working on." seokmin says sitting down in front of him. he turns the chair around and straddles it, leaning on the back rest. jihoon can't help but smile softly.

  
"thanks seokmin."

  
"no problem hyung. how's the song going?" jihoon would usually say it's coming along well and leave it at that but the genuine interested look on seokmin's face has him explaining the whole song and the ideas he has for the production of it, the background melody, the effects and the song flow. seokmin sits through it, intently listening.

  
and if soonyoung finds them, laughing together in the orange light of the sun that filters through the music room windows, jihoon doesn't need to know.

  
soonyoung closes the door quietly, not having opened it to more than a crack and retreats back with a smile on his face.

 

 

**+**

 

  
"so. jihoon." jihoon is startled as he's walking towards his class when soonyoung suddenly appears beside him, slinging his arm around his shoulders. his trademark smile on his face that jihoon knows that he's up to something no good.

  
"please don't talk to me." jihoon says, taking soonyoung's arm off his shoulder.

  
"is that anyway to treat your bestest friend in the whole wide world? i'm so shocked and offended." soonyoung replies, with a fake gasp and a dramatic clutch on his chest. jihoon fights the urge to roll his eyes.

  
"i, never in my life, has acknowledged you as my bestfriend. what do you want kwon?" soonyoung's smile widens impossibly and places himself infront of jihoon. they stop walking and soonyoung places his hands on jihoon's shoulders. jihoon has a very bad feeling in his gut.

  
"when are you gonna ask seokmin out?" jihoon should have ran when he had the chance.

  
"what the _hell_ are you talking about?" soonyoung gives him a look, and raises one eyebrow. "lee jihoon." jihoon braces himself. "i have known you since we were in the womb. don't think i don't know all your tells. kwon hoshi knows everything!!" jihoon rolls his eyes at the old nickname and pushes him out of the way. he walks away as quick as he can. he enters his classroom and sits down, quite aggressively as the seat thumps. he looks around the room and his classmates are looking at him. junhui, one of his closest friends in the same class, approaches jihoon and sits down on his desk.

  
"you okay ji?" jihoon sees soonyoung on his peripheral by the door mouthing "we'll talk about this later", and sighs. "yeah jun. i'm okay. just tired."

 

**+**

 

 

finals exams are coming and this is the time where students are made up of coffee and pure will and jihoon's about to drop at any second. he trudges to the music room where his team is already sitting in a circle on the floor waiting for him.

  
"everything okay ji?" it was jeonghan who asks, always jeonghan. jihoon is grateful for the caring senior has always been a refreshing presence for all of them. jeonghan was selfless and loving alike their own parents and despite jihoon's sometimes uneasiness at skinship he plops himself down next to said boy and leans his head on his shoulder, closing his eyes. jeonghan immediately waps his arms around him and places his head at the crook of his neck.

  
the others has understanding looks on their faces as well as the underlying fondness and relaxes along when jeonghan starts humming. jihoon opens his eyes and looks around the room. "nobody talks about this to anyone, got it?"

  
jihoon settles back again but he misses how seokmin looked like he wanted to hold jihoon, too but quickly bows his head to hide it. it doesn't go unnoticed by the others but they kept to themselves, smiling knowingly at each other. seungkwan shakes his head and lets out a soft laugh, "sure hyung, you did finish eight songs and the main track for us."

  
jihoon squirms uneasily after about three minutes though and pulls away from jeonghan. but if it was because he actually wanted to rest his bones in seokmin's arms and started wondering if it'd be warm just like laying in a patch of sunlight, he'll never say.

 

**+**

 

  
finals exams has finally finished and everybody is rejoicing. wonwoo might have been panicking a bit and reviewing all his answers to check if they were right but soonyoung pulls away his books and drags them to where their group is. soonyoung's annoyingly hyper presence turns soft around wonwoo and jihoon smiles to himself as wonwoo visibly relaxes and lets himself be pat on the head. not like jihoon would want that. his friends know about his certain distaste for skinship and they like to tease him.

  
so when a finger pokes his cheek, he immediately turns his head to tell the person off with his signature "you better stop" look. he doesn't expect it to be seokmin, though. he holds the look for about two seconds but his features soften anyway. he can't help it, not when seokmin is smiling at hm like that, like poking his cheek is the most enjoyable thing he's ever done.

  
~~jihoon maybe, _maybe_ , just a _teeny tiny_ bit, wants to kiss him.~~

 

 

**+**

 

  
jihoon should have known that whenever soonyoung is involved nothing good comes out of the situation. this is how he finds himself stuck in seungcheol's cramped closet with seokmin while all their friends holler and intake more alcohol stupidly. jihoon curses kwon soonyoung with all of his might.

  
"we'll let you out when you tell seokmin!" jihoon pounds on the door and shouts back, "i will _kill you_ kwon!"

  
"tell me what hyung?" jihoon freezes for a moment then slowly turns back to seokmin. _why did he ever attend this party in the first place?_ "nothing seokmin. soonyoung and all of our friends are blubbering idiots."

  
seokmin looks at him, _too long_ than jihoon can take and he leans back on the door looking away from seokmin. seokmin seemed to be thinking of something, features still with concentration and jihoon starts to get worried. "um, you okay? you don't have claustrophobia right?" jihoon asks, checking at seokmin with a concerned look. he doesn't look in his eyes, though.

  
seokmin looks up and jihoon is surprised at the determined expression on the younger's face. he's one second away from breaking the door down from all of the tension. " _hyung_. jihoon hyung." seokmin says slowly and jihoon's heart is pounding in his ears.

  
"yeah?" jihoon pauses as seokmin moves closer to him. "if you have claustrophobia, t-tell me, soonyoung would let us out. it'll be f-fine." jihoon's voice is unsteady and seokmin just shakes his head and moves closer until they're face to face and jihoon unconsciously searches for the doorknob.

  
"hyung, _oh my god_ don't be scared." seokmin blinks and moves back a little. " _not_ gonna hurt you. i'm sorry." seokmin smiles at him nervously but jihoon's shoulders are still tensed up and his heart is still trying to come out of his chest. jihoon thinks he's about to _pass out_. "um- it's okay just. move- move back a little more okay?" seokmin complies and they both sit down on the floor but their knees are still touching and jihoon's face feels too hot so he hangs his head so seokmin can't see his face.

  
well.

  
it's now or never right?

  
_"hyung will you go on a date with me?"_

  
_"seokmin will you go out with me?"_

 

  
jihoon whips his head up to look at seokmin mirroring the same shocked expression he has. jihoon's known for his composed and fast reactions to situations but apparently when it comes to seokmin his brain decides to short circuit. so he doesn't see it coming when soekmin lunges at him and wraps him in his arms with his face smushed on seokmin's shoulder. his arms move on their own though and his mind doesn't catch up when they grip at the back of seokmin's shirt while seokmin pulls away a bit to look at his face.

 

"jihoon hyung."

 

and seokmin is smiling that sun born smile in that dimly lit closet and jihoon feels like he's about to cry. lee jihoon _doesn't_ cry. never. not even when his parents split up or when he didn't have money to afford school anymore or when he can't finish a song and he's frustrated. and definitely _not now_ when seokmin looks so happy his smile is rivaling the sun's brightness.

  
"so the carat cafe near the campus tomorrow? is that okay?" seokmin kisses his nose and presses his forehead against his. he's looking into his eyes and seokmin's flicker down for a moment before letting out air through his nose which could be a laugh and jihoon can't keep up with anything as seokmin presses his lips against his in a soft kiss. seokmin rubs the back of jihoon's head in a loving manner not saying any words but it's clear. _"it's okay hyung. i got you."_

  
jihoon cried a little. just a little. he swears.

 

**+**

 

 

  
soonyoung got impossibly more annoying since jihoon and seokmin has told their friends about their relationship and it's taking all of jihoon's self control not to punch him since seokmin seems to really admire him.

  
"so did the two of you already do it?" soonyoung is moving his eyebrows up and down at jihoon and jihoon thinks one of his eyes actually _twitched_ at how annoyed he was. seokmin was blushing a soft pink color and bows his head.

  
"so _help me_ kwon soonyoung, you'll be found dead in a ditch sooner or later." seokmin looks up and laughs slinging his arm on jihoon's shoulder. "you two are really the best of friends you know?" seokmin says to him quietly while soonyoung continues to tease them obliviously. "i _hate_ him seokmin. what are you talking about?" jihoon turns to look at him and he's about a few inches away from the side of seokmin's face. seokmin is smiling softly at soonyoung's antics and laughs loudly when soonyoung managed to drag wonwoo into the conversation.

  
"wonwoo-ah aren't they cute? i take all the credit for this couple." and all the while when wonwoo looks like a confused kitten and soonyoung's loud laugh there was seokmin's bright smile and jihoon shakes his head but with a small smile on his face. he thinks he could get used used to this much sunshine.

  
the group then settles down and seokmin leans his head on jihoon's since he was a whole head taller than him. jihoon feels himself being pulled closer towards seokmin and there are arms wrapping around his waist.

  
_being in seokmin's arms does feel like laying in a patch of sunlight._

 

 

**+**

 

 

  
vacation comes and the amount of party plans and hang-outs makes jihoon just curl up in his bed and sleep more. it was a warm sunday and jihoon is very much comfortable in taking naps the whole day and _not_ deal with his loud energetic friends. seokmin appears at his bedroom door though and jihoon groans, turning on his side facing away from the door.

"go away."

 

he could hear seokmin come in and feel the bed dip. "hyung~" seokmin places his hand on jihoon's head. "you haven't gone out with us for a while come on." he proceeds to run his hands through jihoon's hair and jihoon is suddenly conscious of his unwashed mess of bed hair. "i see you everyday and as much as i love the cuddling and nap dates, you have to get out of this apartment."

  
"but it's so comfortable seok. also i have a bad feeling about today." he turns on his back and looks up at his boyfriend. jihoon sighs as he's forced up by seokmin placing his hand on the back of jihoon's neck and lifts him up. "come on hyung. we're going out. no excuses" seokmin smiles and as much as jihoon didn't want to, jihoon has never been to resist seokmin anyways.

  
seokmin and jihoon went out to meet their mess of a group in the carat cafe where they had their first date. it was full of catching up stories and ridiculous antics and lame jokes (courtesy of soonyoung and wonwoo) and jihoon feels his regret of coming with whither away as they all laugh at mingyu accidentally spilling some coffee on minghao and the latter slapping him upside the head. seokmin has an arm around his waist and pulls him closer, sneaking a kiss to side of his temple.

  
"this wasn't so bad now hyung, was it?" and jihoon nods as they intertwine their fingers under the table and watch as mingyu tries to save his life by attempting to give minghao a kiss.

  
jihoon's gut was still twisting in a bad way though. 

  
but he doesn't think about it more when seokmin swaps their cups because jihoon's has too much cream and he likes it black and _i know you won't be able to drink it anyways hyung._

  
jihoon _loves_ seokmin _impossibly more._

 

 

**+**

 

  
seokmin walks jihoon home and it takes longer than usual because seokmin insists on kissing him under one of the golden light of the street lamps and jihoon loves seokmin too much to refuse. it was late in the night, the sun has long set, and the cold night air was lingering around them but seokmin is as warm as ever. seokmin hugs jihoon tight and kisses him at his door, soft and loving like some cliché movie scene and _god_ , jihoon loves him _so much_.

  
"i love you,too hyung." jihoon pulls away from the warmth and looks up at seokmin, eyes wide. "yeah, you said that aloud." there was a second of silence and then they were laughing, like crazy idiots in the middle of the night, out on the street but seokmin is holding jihoon's hand and the light from one of the street lamps was illuminating seokmin from behind, a halo of gold shining around him.

  
"you're my sun seokmin." jihoon says, because he felt like it and it was true, with the way seokmin smiles, always _happy and bright,_ the way he gets jihoon out of bed and his warmth that jihoon calls _home_.

  
seokmin looks - stares at him and slowly smiles, teasingly. "hyung~" and jihoon's cheeks tints with a lovely carnation rose color. jihoon pushes him away and he turns to the door and opens it, stepping inside. he doesn't mind it one bit when seokmin pulls him back around to kiss his cheeks repeatedly though. "ew." jihoon wipes his cheeks."

_i love you so much, fuck._

"it was the hot coffee talking. go home." he says instead and seokmin lets go of him but not without one of those sunshine smiles he has for jihoon. _always_ , only for _jihoon._

  
jihoon _feels_ it to his bones, the happiness and light swirling around in his veins.

 

"i'll call you when i get home hyung."

 

_jihoon feels so, so **warm**._

 

 

**+**

 

 

they say that the light from the sun takes eight minutes to reach the earth. and if the sun ever burns out, we wouldn't know about it for eight minutes, we wouldn't know about our last eight minutes of warmth, light and happiness until we're swallowed by the darkness.

  
jihoon didn't know his eight minutes had started counting down as soon as he shut the door to his apartment.

  
he makes it to his bedroom though and flops down on his bed, staring at the ceiling, smiling at the void like some schoolgirl with a crush. he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, feeling light and happy. just as he was about to be pulled into his sunshine dreams, his phone rings, breaking his serenity. he gets up, leaning on an elbow to get his phone and frowns.

  
seokmin was calling and it has just been a few minutes. seokmin couldn't be home yet in such a short time. he answers it quickly.

  
"seok? you home already?" jihoon waits for the cheery teasing voice of "i missed you already hyung!!~" and he'll roll his eyes and say "shut up." but it never comes as he was greeted by wailing sirens and an unfamiliar voice talking on the other end of the call.

  
"sir? you were on the speed dials of a.." the voice pauses, like trying to read something. "a mr. lee seokmin."  
cold spreads thorugh jihoon's body and his heart pounds in his ears. he opens his mouth to _say something_ , to ask what had happened and why the person had seokmin's phone but nothing comes out as he hears a faint shouting of _"no pulse!"_ in the background of the phone call.

  
"sir? this is seoul city police. your friend has been hit by a speeding vehicle. we're taking him to a seoul central hospital and we need you to come down here to give us information."

  
jihoon nods dumbly, not before realizing that the speaker can't see him and then let's out a stiff hum of confirmation and ends the call. jihoon doesn't remember putting on his shoes and dashes out. his hands were cold and it was like a nightmare happening in the dead of the night. when you're eyes are open but your body _can't_ move and you're stuck in an infinite struggle to regain control of your mind and surroundings. he mindlessly dials soonyoung, barely registers what he's said on the call and ends it, hailing a cab. on his way to the hospital he passes the street where the accident had happened and in the blur of the passing scene, inside his cab, jihoon sees _so much_ blood he feels lightheaded and nauseous. but his shock prevents him to look away.

 

 

  
he arrives at the hospital and maybe it's the smell of antiseptic, the police officer that greets him or the general tension and sadness a hospital emergency room has, but jihoon starts to shake, the tears falling from his eyes. he sees a nurse carrying a piece of clothing and even through his blurred vision he'd recognize that shade of yellow anywhere.

  
he gave that shirt to seokmin for his birthday and the red on the yellow made it look like the sun was bleeding. jihoon's sun was bleeding. the officer tries to calm him and it doesn't work. _not_   when he can see the silhouettes on the white curtain slump their shoulders and slowly drop their hands to their sides. _not_   when someone calls out "time?" and someone walks in with a white blanket and covers up the person on the bed.

  
"no! _no no no no no!_ " jihoon starts screaming as the officer holds him back. " _seokmin!_ no!" he struggles. if he could just reach seokmin it'll be okay. he'll wake up and give him annoying hugs and unnecessary amount of kisses. _seokmin's not de-_

  
the nurses part the cutains and jihoon could see seokmin's hand hanging out limply from under the white cover. his screams die down as he crumples on the floor, all the simmering rage and frustration leaving his body empty. he blinks teardrop after teardrop and jihoon thinks that hospitals had everything white and bright to compensate for all the gloom and darkness that happens inside it.

  
he barely registers soonyoung arriving to take him away from the officer and up from the floor, leading him away.

 

 

 

  
**bonus**  
**+the aftermath**  
_**what happens when the sun goes out?** _

 

 

 

jihoon lies in the darkness of his room. still. quiet. **too quiet.**

  
there's no one forcing him to get out of bed, no one gently running their hands through his hair, no one talking to him, telling him lame dad jokes and no loud bright laughs that echoes through the apartment.

  
so jihoon doesn't get out, can't remember his last shower, doesn't talk, laugh or smile. he feels heavy, a waste of existence. he blinks and keeps his eyes closed for a second, still processing how it could be so dark, how he could _feel_ the dark when it's ten in the morning.

  
or maybe the windows behind the dark curtains were just shut too tight.

 

 

with half -lidded eyes and a deep sigh, jihoon lifts his arm slowly, like it was too heavy a thing to move, and picks up his vibrating phone from beside him.

  
" _jihoon._ " soonyoung's voice flows through jihoon's phone speakers as he finally decides to answer one of the many calls his friends had made. jihoon exhales a shaky breath and steels himself. "h-hey."

  
"jihoon. we know it hurts." soonyoung pauses, choosing his words carefully. "we're hurting, too. but." soonyoung's voice starts to break and jihoon shuts his eyes tight, as if it'll prevent any tears from leaking out. it doesn't work.

  
"but, you can't do this to yourself. seok- _he_ wouldn't have wanted you to waste away like this ji." jihoon lets out a quiet sob at the almost mention of seokmin's name. it rings in his ears, resounding to his heart like a dozen knives.

  
"we already lost a friend jihoon. don't let us lose you, too." jihoon is _crying_ , the kind where your chest is _heaving_ and you clutch at your chest because the hurt is too much, it actually _physically hurts_.

  
"soonyoung." jihoon pulls the blankets around himself tight, voice shaking. _"do you know what happens when the sun goes out?"_

  
"jihoon." soonyoung's voice is strained.

  
"without the light, we'd be in darkness you know? and the plants get food from the light and without that they'd die and without the plants prodcuing oxygen for us, we'd soon follow after. when the sun goes, we'd follow right after. without the light, there'd be no life." jihoon could've phrased that better, explained better but his mind is a _mess_ and he could hear soonyoung shuffling to probably get out of his room to get to him. "jihoon. _what do you mean?_ that wouldn't happen in like a thousand years more. what are you talking about??" soonyoung's voice gets frantic.

  
jihoon falls down on his bed carelessly, and he hits the headboard. he knows the thump sounded through the call because soonyoung's voice gets louder. "what was that?? _jihoon!_ jihoon i swear to g-" jihoon cuts him off. he ignores the stinging on his forehead, slides down a bit and curls up in his blankets tight, pulling them over his head.

  
" _my_ sun is _gone_ , soonyoung."

maybe it's because jihoon's room hasn't seen sunlight for weeks as he hasn't bothered to open his windows. his pale skin hasn't had the golden touch of the sun since he doesn't go out. maybe it's because of the assortment of random pills he'd found in the medicine cabinet. jihoon _feels_ it to his bones, the grief and darkness swirling around in his veins.

 

"jihoon!  _jihoon,_ i'll be there in like, _eight_ minutes please!"

 

_jihoon feels so, so **cold.**_

 

**Author's Note:**

> i'M SORRY  
>   
> come yell at me on [**twitter!**](https://twitter.com/ujinology)


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